PETA, the People for the Ethnic Treatment of Animals, has launched an attack on Mario for his use of the Tanooki Suit.
The organisation damns Mario for apparently encouraging the wearing of 'fur' for super powers.
"When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use any means necessary to defeat his enemy-even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers," says the PETA site.
"Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur," it goes on to claim.
Even more hilarious, the page contains a Flash game that lets players take control of a skinless tanuki who chases Mario as blood drips from his Tanooki suit to retrieve his stolen fur.
It's called 'Super Tanooki Skin 2D', and we finished it. This is gory stuff. And actually rather funny.
We're all for animal rights, but it's ironic that the most comical depictions of dead animals in a video game should come from the site aimed at discouraging such things.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...f-tanooki-fur/